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@davefl Thanks, that’s useful. My stays for work are usually Premier Inn or HI/HIE and the leisure are usually AirBnB, or HI/HIE/Indigo if it’s a weekend break – so I know more about IHG as a chain than Hilton.
Slightly off-topic but related – is the free breakfast with Gold only a continental? And if it’s a full one, are the breakfasts decent at regular Hiltons? I can’t remember the last time I stayed in a Hilton, but the Hampton by Hilton I stayed in at the end of last year where the breakfast was included it wasn’t great, I’m sure it was powdered egg for the scrambled egg. I could have a few Hilton stays next year and might possibly consider the card for the Gold and get a few points for the stays and the breakfast if they’re any good.
One Hilton told us the hot food in buffet can be consumed but any order prepared fresh, like an omlette, needs to be paid for. At a HGI omlettes were also included! I guess they cant be bothered monitoring and enforcing the rule.
By the book, the free breakfast for G and D is continental at all brands except for HGI where it is “cooked to order” (as mentioned above).
Despite this, most Hiltons around the world will offer full breakfast to G and D. Exceptions: in many Australia and NZ properties you have to pay $10.20 extra per person to upgrade from continental to full breakfast (the 20 cents is because they have a “card surcharge”). In some Caribbean properties it has been reported there is also a US$10 upgrade to the full breakfast.
The vast majority of properties in Europe offer full breakfast, however sometimes if you have diamond lounge access, or get an upgrade granting lounge access as gold, you must take your breakfast in the lounge and will be charged full price at the restaurant. Properties I know where this currently applies – Hilton Malta, Hilton Tallinn and some of the Korean Hiltons with a lounge; however the lounge breakfasts are quite substantial (albeit less extensive than they used to be in the past).
There was a short period where Hilton Glasgow only allowed G and D to take continental breakfast too but I don’t think that has re-occurred.
Hampton breakfasts in the UK are very low quality, I can’t imagine how bad they must be in the US. They are better on the European mainland.
in many Australia and NZ properties you have to pay $10.20 extra per person to upgrade from continental to full breakfast (the 20 cents is because they have a “card surcharge”). In some Caribbean properties it has been reported there is also a US$10 upgrade to the full breakfast.
How do they police this?
Mrs Aston went through a strange phase where she identified as a vegan for a couple of months.
During that crazy period, we did four nights at a couple of Premier Inns. We paid for continental breakfast, and consumed only eligible items.
However, nobody bothered to check that we didn’t sneak a cheeky sausage or two. Obviously we didn’t, but we could have.
So what is to stop immoral gits from helping themselves to the regular hot breakfast items at hotels like Premier Inns and those in the quote?Hampton breakfasts in the UK are very low quality, I can’t imagine how bad they must be in the US. They are better on the European mainland.
In the US they are as I mentioned earlier – Waffle machines (the big thing for hampton), 2 types of bread for toast, usually bagels, then cereals, powdered scrambled eggs, fruit (bananas, apples and oranges), coffee, and juices from a machine. That’s it. You may get the odd extra but it’s rare
Hamptons are comfortable, clean, consistent across the US (I’ve stayed at dozens of them).
If you want a better breakfast go elsewhere.
So I was tempted and applied yesterday, I received an email this morning to say the card was dispatched and arriving next week. Once I have the card, I will rebook my Gatwick stay and get the free breakfast.
BTW, we are flying from the South Terminal and had booked the Hilton adjoining the terminal. I notice there is another Hilton, is one better than the other? ThanksAt the Hilton in Barbados, as a diamond at the time, only continental breakfast was free. They charged an extra $15 per person per day for full breakfast.
Ended up having it in the lounge reach day instead, which was fine and with lovely views. They have since got rid of the lounge sadly, one of the best bits of the hotel!So I was tempted and applied yesterday, I received an email this morning to say the card was dispatched and arriving next week. Once I have the card, I will rebook my Gatwick stay and get the free breakfast.
BTW, we are flying from the South Terminal and had booked the Hilton adjoining the terminal. I notice there is another Hilton, is one better than the other? ThanksNo need to rebook unless you booked a rate including breakfast.
The actual Hilton should be better than the Hampton. They were recently refurbishing their rooms too. I think the public areas are complete.
So I was tempted and applied yesterday, I received an email this morning to say the card was dispatched and arriving next week. Once I have the card, I will rebook my Gatwick stay and get the free breakfast.
BTW, we are flying from the South Terminal and had booked the Hilton adjoining the terminal. I notice there is another Hilton, is one better than the other? ThanksNo need to rebook unless you booked a rate including breakfast.
The actual Hilton should be better than the Hampton. They were recently refurbishing their rooms too. I think the public areas are complete.
Thanks for the reply, yes my rate did include breakfast, I thought spending longer having breakfast in the hotel would be better than booking a lounge, although the fast track security that comes with the lounge is quite handy. So I will make another booking and cancel the first one.
I was mindful of a review on here that said the Hilton was a little dated and gloomy and thought that while I was changing my booking, I might as well change hotels even though it was less convenient. I think now I will just rebook the original hotel, get my free breakfast and maybe a room upgrade with my new status, who knows?At the Hilton in Barbados, as a diamond at the time, only continental breakfast was free.
There have been a lot of complaints about US hotels only offering an F&B credit rather than breakfast, and forgetting that the free breakfast was technically limited, as you discovered in Barbados.
I suspect the vast majority of Hilton’s can’t be bothered with the aggravation of trying to police continental only at buffets, which is why gold benefit in practice is usually all you can eat.
Tempted to go for the gold option on this myself, but does anyone know how the direct debit works once set up?
Is a DD payment taken ever time I use my connected debit card, or does it simple store the amount Amex style and then take it all in one go on a monthly basis?
Tempted to go for the gold option on this myself, but does anyone know how the direct debit works once set up?
Is a DD payment taken ever time I use my connected debit card, or does it simple store the amount Amex style and then take it all in one go on a monthly basis?
Per transaction
Per transaction
Brilliant, cheers. Definitely signing up then!
So, I applied for the card last Thursday and today it arrived. A couple of moments later and it was up and running, showing available funds as per the connected bank account. Luckily on the app there is a daily limit maximum that is easy to change to whatever you want and cancel just as easily (just in case something goes wrong so my whole bank account isn’t at risk)
I had booked Gatwick Hilton a few weeks ago with a paid-for breakfast so rebooked without breakfast and cancelled the original booking. My free Gold tier breakfasts popped up straight away Huzzah! 4 more pairs of breakfasts and I break even not to mention the other bonuses. A very happy customer.A couple of questions from a zero Hilton points Gold Tier (!) customer…
If you check-in on the app are you still likely to get a room upgrade, or is it best to present yourself at reception? At an airport hotel like Gatwick South are there any rooms worth upgrading to for a one night stay?
A couple of questions from a zero Hilton points Gold Tier (!) customer…
If you check-in on the app are you still likely to get a room upgrade, or is it best to present yourself at reception? At an airport hotel like Gatwick South are there any rooms worth upgrading to for a one night stay?
Varies by hotel.
Some will message you around 24 hours before and tell you about the upgrade – you can then accept the room in the app if it is decent one. Others will just assign the standard booked room in which case I don’t check in on the app and try my luck at the desk. Others will assign a standard room then tell you some bulls**t about your room having a ‘nice view’ or being on a high floor and tell you that’s the upgrade.
Some properties (e.g. many Hamptons) will have no worthwhile upgrades anyway.
Remember that as Gold you are nothing special (the majority of the customers in the hotel may be the same or indeed higher status – especially in America) and you should expect absolutely nothing. Book the room you want and anything more is a bonus. Gold is about a higher points earning rate and free breakfast.
A couple of questions from a zero Hilton points Gold Tier (!) customer…
If you check-in on the app are you still likely to get a room upgrade, or is it best to present yourself at reception? At an airport hotel like Gatwick South are there any rooms worth upgrading to for a one night stay?Remember that as Gold you are nothing special (the majority of the customers in the hotel may be the same or indeed higher status – especially in America) and you should expect absolutely nothing. Book the room you want and anything more is a bonus. Gold is about a higher points earning rate and free breakfast.
+1 Anything you get over and above is nice surprise. In Podgorica I was upgraded from a basic king to a 1 bed suite, (and after the one night there I went to a IHG Vocco which I imstantly regretted as there was a teens international kickboxing tournament locally and all the teams were staying there. I soooo wished I was back in my nice suite)
But mostly you just get a view of the bins and no upgrade as gold. It’ll be even worse now with this card and in the US Bilt have just given 3 months of HH Gold to every one of their members.
Just read that the Hilton Visa credit card in Germany was terminated for all on 30/09/2024. Let’s hope the same fate doesn’t spread to the UK!
Just read that the Hilton Visa credit card in Germany was terminated for all on 30/09/2024. Let’s hope the same fate doesn’t spread to the UK!
Oh! Any ideas why?
Nope.
Does anybody know if you can use this Hilton debit card to pay HMRC, NSI, Credit Card balances and other such institutions covered by Curve Fronted ?
Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere on HfP.
Does anybody know if you can use this Hilton debit card to pay HMRC, NSI, Credit Card balances and other such institutions covered by Curve Fronted ?
Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere on HfP.
It’s a debit card, so you should be able to pay.
There are transactions which are excluded from earning points – I think Rob covered this in the article a few weeks ago.
@Greg – from Hilton/Currensea Ts and Cs:
In addition to the above, Hilton Honors Points cannot be earned on certain non-personal spend and certain categories of personal spend. Ineligible spending categories include but are not limited to:
Any payment of UK or European taxes, including HMRC, council tax and any equivalent foreign taxes;
UK or European rent or mortgage payments;
Payment of card fees;
ATM cash withdrawal abroad (for avoidance of doubt, UK ATM cash withdrawal is not supported by the card);
Payments in relation to financial products;
Cash recycling schemes;
Payment of UK or European school, university, or other educational fees;
Obtaining cash through a transaction which the cardholder knows will be treated as a purchase of goods and services; and
Using the card at a retailer that the cardholder controls.For customers selecting the business expenses option when signing up, broader categories of spend are available for points earning, however ATM and counter cash withdrawals and cash recycling schemes are always excluded.
There appears to be some type of allowance for business spend registered customers, although Hilton/Currensea does not state what is allowed specifically.
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